Fermoy News

Fermoy man claims three gold medal at World Powerlifting Championships

Local powerlifter John Rice, brought three gold medals home from the World Drug Free Powerlifting Federation European Championships last month, breaking a 14-year world record along the way.
The 66-year old, who competes with Fermoy Boat House, claimed gold in the squat (lifting 150kg), bench (lifting 100kg) and deadlift (210kg) classes at the Single-Lift equipped championships, held in Wexford over three days recently.
A Belgian powerlifter previously owned the deadlift world record before John dismantled the record books with his 210kg lift. The WDFPF uses the Schwartz formula to factor in conditions such as weight and age of the competitor.
John has a long history competing in powerlifting and athletics, and is currently involved with Grange AC. The Rice family have a distinguished sporting tradition; John’s brother Denis competed in rowing at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, Russia.